Microsoft Windows
Updated: 12/11/2025, 3:22:42 PM Wikipedia source
Microsoft Windows, commonly known as Windows, is a proprietary graphical operating system developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families that cater to particular sectors of the computing industry – Windows for personal computers, Windows Server for servers, and Windows IoT for embedded systems. Windows itself is further grouped into editions that cater to different users – Home for home users, Professional for advanced users, Education for schools, and Enterprise for corporations. Windows is sold both as a consumer retail product and to computer manufacturers, who bundle and distribute it with their systems. The first version of Windows, Windows 1.0, was released on November 20, 1985 as a graphical operating system shell for MS-DOS in response to growing interest in graphical user interfaces (GUIs). The name Windows is a reference to the windowing system in GUIs. The 1990 release of Windows 3.0 catapulted its market success and led to the launch of various other product families, including the (now-defunct) Windows Mobile, Windows Phone, and Windows CE/Embedded Compact. Windows is the most popular desktop operating system in the world, with a 72% market share as of October 2025, and the second-most popular operating system overall, behind Android. As of August 2025, Windows 11 is the most used desktop version of Windows, with a market share of 53%.
Infobox
Tables
| Product name | Latest version | Release date | Codename | Support until | Latest version of | |||
| Mainstream | Extended | IE | DirectX | Edge | ||||
| Unsupported: Windows 1 .mw- .mw- .mw- .mw- } } | 1.04 | November 20, 1985 | Interface Manager | December 31, 2001 | — | — | — | |
| Unsupported: Windows 2.0 | 2.03 | December 9, 1987 | — | |||||
| Unsupported: Windows 2.1 | 2.11 | May 27, 1988 | — | |||||
| Unsupported: Windows 3.0 | 3.0 | May 22, 1990 | — | |||||
| Unsupported: Windows 3.1 | 3.1 | April 6, 1992 | — | 5 | ||||
| Unsupported: Windows For Workgroups 3.1 | 3.1 | October 27, 1992 | Sparta, Winball | |||||
| Unsupported: Windows NT 3.1 | NT 3.1.528 | July 27, 1993 | — | December 31, 2000 | 2 | |||
| Unsupported: Windows For Workgroups 3.11 | 3.11 | August 11, 1993 | Snowball | December 31, 2001 | 5 | |||
| Unsupported: Windows 3.2 | 3.2 | November 22, 1993 | — | |||||
| Unsupported: Windows NT 3.5 | NT 3.5.807 | September 21, 1994 | Daytona | 3 | ||||
| Unsupported: Windows NT 3.51 | NT 3.51.1057 | May 30, 1995 | — | 5 | ||||
| Unsupported: Windows 95 | 4.0.950 | August 24, 1995 | Chicago, 4.0 | December 31, 2000 | December 31, 2001 | 5.5 | 8.0a | |
| Unsupported: Windows NT 4.0 | NT 4.0.1381 | July 31, 1996 | Cairo | June 30, 2002 | June 30, 2004 | 6 | 3.0a | |
| Unsupported: Windows 98 | 4.10.1998 | June 25, 1998 | Memphis, 97, 4.1 | July 11, 2006 | 9.0c | |||
| Unsupported: Windows 98 SE | 4.10.2222 | June 10, 1999 | — | |||||
| Unsupported: Windows 2000 | NT 5.0.2195 | February 17, 2000 | — | June 30, 2005 | July 13, 2010 | |||
| Unsupported: Windows Me | 4.90.3000 | September 14, 2000 | Millennium, 4.9 | December 31, 2003 | July 11, 2006 | |||
| Unsupported: Windows XP | NT 5.1.2600 | October 25, 2001 | Whistler | April 14, 2009 | April 8, 2014 | 8 | ||
| Unsupported: Windows XP 64-bit Edition | NT 5.2.3790 | March 28, 2003 | — | |||||
| Unsupported: Windows Server 2003 | April 24, 2003 | Whistler Server | July 13, 2010 | July 14, 2015 | ||||
| Unsupported: Windows XP Professional x64 Edition | April 25, 2005 | — | April 14, 2009 | April 8, 2014 | ||||
| Unsupported: Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs | NT 5.1.2600 | July 8, 2006 | Eiger, Mönch | |||||
| Unsupported: Windows Vista | NT 6.0.6003 | January 30, 2007 | Longhorn | April 10, 2012 | April 11, 2017 | 9 | 11 | |
| Unsupported: Windows Home Server | NT 5.2.4500 | November 4, 2007 | Quattro | January 8, 2013 | 8 | 9.0c | ||
| Unsupported: Windows Server 2008 | NT 6.0.6003 | February 27, 2008 | Longhorn Server | January 13, 2015 | January 14, 2020 | 9 | 11 | |
| Unsupported: Windows 7 | NT 6.1.7601 | October 22, 2009 | Windows 7 | 11 | 109 | |||
| Unsupported: Windows Server 2008 R2 | Windows Server 7 | |||||||
| Unsupported: Windows Home Server 2011 | NT 6.1.8400 | April 6, 2011 | Vail | April 12, 2016 | ||||
| Unsupported: Windows Server 2012 | NT 6.2.9200 | September 4, 2012 | Server 8 | October 9, 2018 | October 10, 2023 | 11.1 | ||
| Unsupported: Windows 8 | October 26, 2012 | — | January 12, 2016 | 10 | ||||
| Unsupported: Windows 8.1 | NT 6.3.9600 | October 17, 2013 | Blue | January 9, 2018 | January 10, 2023 | 11 | 11.2 | |
| Unsupported: Windows Server 2012 R2 | October 18, 2013 | Server Blue | October 9, 2018 | October 10, 2023 | ||||
| Unsupported: Windows 10 | NT 10.0.19045 | July 29, 2015 | Various | October 14, 2025 | 12 | 143 | ||
| Supported: Windows Server 2016 | NT 10.0.14393 | October 12, 2016 | — | January 11, 2022 | January 12, 2027 | |||
| Supported: Windows Server 2019 | NT 10.0.17763 | October 2, 2018 | — | January 9, 2024 | January 9, 2029 | |||
| Supported: Windows Server 2022 | NT 10.0.20348 | August 18, 2021 | — | October 13, 2026 | October 14, 2031 | |||
| Latest version: Windows 11 | NT 10.0.26200 | October 5, 2021 | Various | October 10, 2028 | — | |||
| Latest version: Windows Server 2025 | NT 10.0.26100 | November 1, 2024 | — | November 13, 2029 | November 14, 2034 | |||
| Legend:UnsupportedSupportedLatest versionPreview versionFuture version | ||||||||
| Timeline of Windows versions .mw- hlist.inline,.mw-parser-output inline dl,.mw-parser-output inline ol,.mw-parser-output inline ul,.mw-parser-output dl dl,.mw-parser-output dl ol,.mw-parser-output dl ul,.mw-parser-output ol dl,.mw-parser-output ol ol,.mw- .mw- hlist dd:last-child ,.mw- hlist dd dd:first-child ,.mw-parser-output dd dt:first-child ,.mw-parser-output dd li:first-child ,.mw-parser-output dt dd:first-child ,.mw-parser-output dt dt:first-child ,.mw-parser-output dt li:first-child ,.mw-parser-output li dd:first-child ,.mw- hlist dd dd:last-child ,.mw-parser-output dd dt:last-child ,.mw-parser-output dd li:last-child ,.mw-parser-output dt dd:last-child ,.mw-parser-output dt dt:last-child ,.mw-parser-output dt li:last-child ,.mw-parser-output li dd:last-child ,.mw- .mw- hlist dd ol>li:first-child ,.mw- .mw- .mw- .mw- .mw- .mw- } }vte |
| |
| Desktop OS | StatCounter |
| Other versions | 0.02% |
| Windows XP | 0.38% |
| Windows 7 | 2.73% |
| Windows 8 | 0.16% |
| Windows 8.1 | 0.16% |
| Windows 10 | 44.78% |
| Windows 11 | 51.76% |
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